First Human Instinct: Voyeurism?

Today is just like any other day: I got up, took the dogs for a walk, took a shower, then settled down to check my email and do my daily surfing. Just like anyone else who frequents the Internet on a daily basis, I have places I usually go to every day: Blogs I read, news pages I check, comics I read. In fact, it’s just like reading the daily newspaper in nearly every respect, except it’s not on paper and my fingers don’t turn black from the ink.

This morning, as I was reading one of my daily blog reads, I got to thinking. What is it about blogging that is so entertaining? Many of the blogs I read are written by people I don’t know and will likely never meet. I have no vested interest in what goes on in their lives? What is it that draws me back day after day?

I can only imagine that it is, in part, voyeurism. Sometimes reading blogs feels like getting a peak into someone else’s life. It’s like I’m standing outside someone’s window looking in, or have snuck into their room and read their diary. The only difference being that these people have opened this window willingly and (should) know that the rest of the world is examining their lives.

When I was thinking about all this (while I was blow drying my hair if you must know), I began wondering if this was solely and American thing or if it’s more base than that. If it’s a human thing. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a human thing. Blogging is wildly popular the world over - that is if you aren’t a total Luddite. People all over the world are exposing their lives to those who crave to live vicariously through said lives. It all comes down to supply and demand, I guess.

For now, I’m going to put these thoughts away, go get my eggs and toast and get on with my life.

The Tortoise and the Dog

The moment that I’ve been half dreading, yet waiting for, happened last night: George, the tortoise, came out of hibernation.

If you’re anything like me, you read that and thought something like: “But I thought hibernation would end just after winter?” That’s what I always thought…that every creature that hibernated did it just like a bear would. Apparently, the desert tortoise doesn’t hold to the same time table as it’s furry friend in the North. (Now that I type that, though, I’m not sure a bear and a tortoise WOULD be friends.) In this case, I believe it was the thunderstorm last evening that brought George out of her yearly sleep.

Dan and I had begun our weekend of hiding from the world (mostly ‘cuz we’re tight on funds) when it started to rain last night. When I was making dinner, I looked out the window and saw that it was pouring rain. I naturally went outside, rain in this part of the country is almost as rare as oxygen in space. Dan elected to stand just inside the house (stubbornly sticking to his “not leaving the house” decree), Hobie went with me and Eva stood in the doorway. She seemed a bit perplexed about the rain.

It smelled wonderful, heavy with moisture and the exact opposite of what we are used to. I stood there for a moment, watching it rain before I noticed that George was booking it across the back yard. I immediately looked to the dogs; they hadn’t noticed her yet. George continued her trek across the yard, she nearly slipped into the pool once, but saved herself (and me having to dive in the pool after her). I again looked at Eva - she still didn’t appear to have noticed George.

Then, all of a sudden, Eva’s ears pricked up and she cocked her head to the side - George had been spotted. I grabbed Eva by the collar to hold her back while we decided how to handle this. We decided the best thing to to would be to take her over and let her have a sniff (and see what she would do). She didn’t lunge at her or anything, just sniffed - but I didn’t feel easy about it at all. I didn’t want to be responsible for the safety of my mom’s tortoise when I couldn’t really predict what Eva would do when unsupervised. Sure, George can pull back into her shell, but Eva has BIG teeth. Eva could gnaw on that shell for entertainment. Heck, it probably looks like a chew toy to her.

I called my mom and we made arrangements for her to pick up the tortoise tomorrow. Neither of us wanted to be constantly worrying about her and Eva. We figured she would just be safer elsewhere. But you can’t just leave her in the backyard and expect to find her the next day. It’s a sizable backyard - and she’s crafty. We decided the best thing to do would be to keep her in a room inside the house until the morning. That way, we’d at least have a general idea of where she should be.

After picking George up, hidden in a towel, I tricked the dogs into going outside so they wouldn’t know what room I was putting the tortoise in. We settled George into the guest bathroom, with some lettuce and a pie plate full of water for nourishment. Then we shut the bathroom door and let the hounds back in.

Hobie couldn’t have cared less about the whole ordeal. He was more excited about the going out and going in business. The tortoise is old news to him. Eva…yeah, she’s another story. Once we let her back in, it took her two seconds to beeline to the guest bathroom and park herself outside the door. She must have a really good sniffer. After that, it was impossible to get her away from the door. Every once in awhile Eva would bark really loud and throw herself at the door - making this really loud boom.

It only took a few times of that going on before I called my mom and told her George would be coming over that night instead of in the morning as previously planned. I didn’t think I could take 12 hours of hearing Eva bark and bang against the door. Heck, I’m not sure George could have handled that. So, after only a little bit of complaining from Dan (about his previous “not leaving the house” decree) we bundled up George and drove her over to my Mom’s, where she is happily wandering around at this very moment.